Govt asked not to merge Malakand Levies into police

• Senators recommend double strength, latest arms and training for paramilitary forces

ISLAMABAD: Senate’s Functional Committee on Problems of Less Developed Areas recommended the federal government to establish a training college for Levies personnel in the Malakand Division to enhance the professional capability.

The meeting of the Senate committee held here on Wednesday at the Parliament House under the chairmanship of Senator Muhammad Usman Khan Kakar. Rahila Magsi, Faiz Muhammad, Fida Muhammad, Muhammad Ayub, Haji Momin Afridi, Sardar Muhammad Azam Khan Musakhel, officials of Ministry of States and Frontier Regions and FATA Secretariat attended the meeting.

Malakand Division Commissioner Zaheerul Islam informed the senators that a total number of the Levies in the different areas was over 4000 including 1835 personnel performing their duties in the division. He said that over 61 Kanal land reserved in Malaknad before the partition for the training centre but so far no school or college for the Levies could be established.

He said that the Malakand Levies Force was established in 1895 with the initial strength of 192 personnel. The main duties assigned to this force were to protect the government’s key installations and communication routes, with the passage of time, this force was given multifarious duties in the present circumstances, this is the only law enforcement agency in Malakand and performing the duties like other district police of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa i.e lodging of FIR, investigation in criminal cases, execution of summons, warrants.

Escort duties with VIPs, foreigners, duty with security forces, recovery of the government dues, production of prisoners to courts, shifting of convicted prisoners to various jails of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, traffic control in Malakand ect were also under their domain to cover. Ministry of States and Frontier Regions (SAFRON) has allocated total budget for the year 2018-19 to Malakand Levies Force is Rs 551,587,000.

The Senate body also recommended that the government not to merge levies into police but should double its strength, provide latest arms, up gradation and training with the latest equipment. It was also told to the Senate body that the enhancement of a number of the Levies personnel to 25,000 till 2021 was the agenda of the federal government.

The commissioner said that the process of rehabilitation, reconstruction and rebuilding in education and health sector was mostly completed in the different parts of it. FATA Secretariat’s Planning and Development Secretary Zubair Asghar Qureshi said that total staff of the secretariat was 55,000 including 35,000 in education, 9,000 in health and remaining staff in administrations and other departments.

He said there were around 600 schools in FATA most of primary and it is the need of time to establish the higher secondary and degree colleges for girls and boys. It is the top priority of the provincial government to set up higher secondary schools and degree colleges. Around 960 health units were functioning in FATA, and since 2007 over 5000 posts of teachers were lying vacant in the different parts of the FATA.

To a question, he informed the Senate body that four cadet colleges and 12 governor model schools were functioning in FATA area. The government rationalizing the education system because in the past it has been observed that there were 10 schools in a one kilometer distance in different areas of the FATA. The senators also recommended for new geo-physical and geo-chemical survey of FATA area.